1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pet houses, and more particularly pertains to a heated pet house to maintain pets in a comfortable environment during cold weather periods. Many individuals have pets, or have children who wish to have a pet, but do not wish to keep the pets within the interior of their home. Pets such as dogs and cats frequently shed hair which can aggravate allergic individuals. Additionally, pets can cause damage to furniture, carpeting and other home furnishings. In order to allow such individuals to keep pets, a variety of different forms of outdoor pet houses have been developed. These conventional pet houses are typically unheated and thus subject the pet to extremely cold temperatures during winter months. In order to overcome this problem, the present invention provides a heated pet house having a thermostatically controlled electric heater to maintain a pet in a comfortable and humane environment during cold winter months.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of pet houses and enclosures are known in the prior art. A typical example of such an enclosure is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,153, which issued to G. Nace on May 6, 1980. This patent discloses a modular assembly of enclosures which may be connected as required to provide a habitat for small animals. The system utilizes a serial drain connection for maintaining adjustable environmental conditions in each of the modular units. U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,214, which issued to L. Cunningham on June 1, 1982, discloses a protected heated pet bed or support having an interior reservoir of heated water maintained at a predetermined temperature by a thermostatic control unit. A removable cover for the bed allows the formation of a heated enclosure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,903, which issued to P. Bloom et al on Dec. 24, 1985, discloses a pet dryer including an enclosure having hinged side wall doors communicating with a hollow interior portion. A blower discharges air past a heater for directing heated air on a pet. U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,343, which issued to L. Evans on Mar. 8, 1988, discloses a sleeping enclosure for a pet having a flat bottom and an arch roof framework formed from a semi-rigid material. The device provides an insulated collapsible sleeping enclosure for dogs and cats.
While the above mentioned devices are directed to pet enclosures, none of these devices disclose a pet house including a covered enclosure having a hollow interior portion provided with an efficient thermostatically controlled heater. Additional features of the present invention, not contemplated by the aforementioned prior art devices, include the provision of a hinged roof, the use of a pressure sensitive switch connected to allow activation of the heater only when a pet is within an interior of the house, the use of a guide track system to allow convenient removal and installation of the heating unit, and a thermostatically controlled system utilizing a transformer, a rectifier and a pair of relays for connecting an AC power source to an electrical resistance heating element upon actuation of a DC controlled thermostat. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of pet houses, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such pet houses, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.